


The Unmentioned Elephant

by Kereea



Series: ASL In Red [22]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Comedy, Drama, F/F, F/M, Family, M/M, Swordfighting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-18
Updated: 2017-06-18
Packaged: 2018-11-15 16:42:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11235027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kereea/pseuds/Kereea
Summary: So we get character development from Zoro, some planning to fight Kaido, and the trip to Zunisha! Next time: party on the elephant with the Barto Club joining the comedic fun in The Usefulness of Fans!





	The Unmentioned Elephant

 

 “Is Zoro just ethically obligated to constantly fight anyone with a sword?” Izo asked as Zoro and Kin’emon began their third duel since they’d met each other.

 “I don’t care as long as I don’t have to do it anymore,” Law said bluntly. “I have more important things to do besides gets into swordfights where I have to handicap myself so I don’t just Shambles his ass into the sea and win automatically. Like planning, or medicine, or _anything else I want_.”

 “Big baby. I can handle Zoro just fine,” Perona bragged, thrusting her chest out in pride.

 “Because he hates fighting you since you either fly away until he gets bored or trick Sanji into interfering,” Koala said. “I think he’s just happy having a swordsman around who’s not Law or Perona.”

 “What about dear Bentham? I swore I saw him with a rapier…” Izo said.

 “Bentham’s more of a brawler or infiltrator,” Koala said. “He goes through various weapons. More of a dabbler, just so he can use one in a disguise if he has to. Rapier’s just his new one he’s working on. He recently finished figuring out a staff for if he’s ever playing Sabo.”

 “Yeah. He’s been looking for a katana to use in case he disguises himself as Kin’emon or Kanjuro at some point,” Law said. “Cesar Clown had a pretty big weapons vault here for his henchmen, so-Room! Shambles!”

  The four were hastily swapped with furniture from the other side of the room as Zoro was slammed backwards. He crashed through a table as it appeared where Koala and Izo had been.

 “Watch where you’re tossing people!” Izo scolded Kin’emon.

 “Zoro’s got to have a spine of steel with all the things he gets thrown into and gets up from,” Koala mused as Zoro quickly forced himself to his feet, smaller bits of debris flying off him at the sudden motion.

 “You are correct, but he relies too much on his armor to win the day!” Kin’emon said. “Armor can only weather a fight, Zoro-san, never defeat a foe!”

 “I’m not even using Haki yet!” Zoro protested.

 “No one tell Kin’emon about Don Krieg’s armor,” Sanji sighed, startling everyone with his appearance and passing out some refreshments once they recovered. “Dear Perona, do you have any insight, as a swordswoman?”

 “I think he’s saying Zoro’s too focused on surviving hits or something…sounds weird but hey, I’m not obsessed like Zoro is,” Perona said, taking a few sips of the lemonade Sanji had brought her.

 “Hmm. Well unless Mosshead gets himself hurt, I’m going to take the others some food,” Sanji said, sweeping back out. He added over his shoulder, “ _If_ he gets hurt, let me know to laugh!”

 “Such a supportive boyfriend,” Izo chuckled. 

 “They’re adorable,” Perona agreed. “In their own boneheaded way.”

 “You should not let me strike you so easily!” Kin’emon scolded loudly, drawing their attention back to the fight.

 “Ah crap, Zoro’s bleeding more,” Koala said, looking at the splashes of red all over the floor. “I’ll get the mop…”

 “Are you going to get bandages?” Izo asked Law.

 Law shrugged and leaned on the wall, “Not yet. He can bleed for a good long while before even getting woozy, and if Kin’emon cuts too deeply I can just make a Room to stabilize it.”

 “Wait, Zoro-san is _often_ cut in battle?” Kin’emon asked before getting distracted by Zoro trying to stab him.

 “Yeah,” Perona said. “Hell of a cleanup too, plus it wrecks his clothes and then Nami starts yelling all about the budget…and then Sanji has to fight with Zoro about remembering to wear shirts…and then Zoro finds out Ace or Sabo ended up with his pants after laundry day and just tries to walk around naked…”

 “You’re saying if this keeps up we get naked Roronoa?” Izo asked, laughing.

 “…I really don’t need that,” Law said. 

 “You’re a doctor, shouldn’t naked people be no big deal?” Perona asked.

 “Yes. But naked people covered in blood means _work_ and I’m trying to relax since Luffy-ya’s getting story time from Robin and Bepo is helping Nami make maps,” Law said. “I should be relaxing and watching two idiots hit each other with swords, not wondering if I’m going to need to give one or both idiots medical attention!”

 “It’s looking like both, I think Kin’emon’s well intentioned critiques are upsetting Zoro,” Izo said conspiratorially. He moved his fan to hide his mouth. “But you didn’t hear it from me…”

 “…We’re both standing within two feet of you,” Perona pointed out.

 “I got the mop, how’s the floor?” Koala asked, rushing back in.

 “Still only a few spots of blood,” Izo said. “Both of them are bleeding now, though.”

 “Urgh. Swords for brains,” Koala said. “What’s happening?”

 “Kin’emon is trying to advise Zoro and Zoro is trying to stab Kin’emon,” Law said. “It’s almost interesting.”

 “You know, Zoro, Kin’emon might have some useful advice for you! Since you’ve only had what, one master your whole life?” Perona called.

 “I trained under other people before Mihawk!” Zoro said.

 “But, like, most of it was under Mihawk right?” Perona asked.

 “Make a point or stop distracting me!” Zoro said.

 “She means that as Dracule Mihawk was your master for so many years, it is possible as you grew used to each other’s _styles_ ,” Kin’emon grunted slightly as he managed to break a blade lock in his favor before pressing the offensive, “he may have overlooked a flaw while training you as he was too used to it to notice!”

 “The fuck are you on about? My old man did fine!” Zoro snapped.

 “You!” Kin’emon said, managing to slash Zoro near the hip before being repelled.

 “Are too willing!” he continued, parrying Zoro’s counterattack.

 “To take needless damage,” he said, forcing Zoro back a step.

 “Simply because you _can_ take it!” he finished, knocking Zoro back into the wall.

 “Ah. An interesting point…” Law mused.

 “No it’s not!” Zoro said. “I take hits that I know I can take, so what?”

 “So it is _always_ better to _not be hit_ ,” Kin’emon said. “Your fighting style involves leaving yourself open to get an opponent’s guard down, it is true, but once an opponent knows of your skill that is _useless_ and you should cease lowering your guard so easily!”

 He glanced at Law, “Physician! How often does this man heavily bleed?”

 Law blinked, “Well…after just about every fight, really. It’s pretty common.”

 “Oh I see…and someone as skilled as Kin’emon can take advantage once he notices your willingness to take hits!” Perona said, smacking her fist into her hand. “It’s brilliant, turning your stupidly-strong toughness against you by taking advantage of _your_ taking advantage of it!”

 “But wouldn’t Mihawk have trained him out of it?” Koala asked.

 “Not necessarily, and it wouldn’t even need to be malicious on Mihawk’s part!” Perona said. “He’s been teaching Zoro for a decade now, he probably just got used to some things and didn’t notice them so much because of the familiarity!”

 “And because Mihawk’s a loner he couldn’t exactly ask someone else for a second opinion…” Law mused. “It makes sense.”

 “But he’s never even exploited it!” Zoro said, finally regaining even graound with Kin’emon thanks to a quick spinning slash. “You really think…he just overlooked it?”

 “Or got so used to it he didn’t think about it at all,” Izo said. “Having just one teacher for so long, even if they’re the greatest in their field, means you’re subject to only what they notice. Outside opinions could do you some good.”

 “Also, if your father has not noticed it as a weakness…he will be all the more surprised when you overcome it and perhaps display hidden strengths he may not have noticed either,” Kin’emon said.

 “Well, we’ve until we take back Wano,” Zoro said, sheathing his blades and bowing. “I’ll take anything you can teach me.”

.o.o.o.

 “So we have a plan or are you just going to go after Kaido?” Marco asked over dinner.

 “Why would you ask something like that?” Kanjuro asked. “Going after Kaido half-cocked would be an utter travesty! Who would be so—I now understand the problem and retract my scolding.”

 “Hey!” Luffy, Ace, and Kin’emon yelled at Kanjuro’s frown and Marco’s knowing smirk.

 “You said you’d try not to die!” Momonosuke said, glaring at Ace. “That mean no doing what Kanjuro and Marco know you want to do!”

 “I got it, kiddo, I got it,” Ace said.

 “Good,” the prince said imperiously before returning to his ratatouille.

 “Anyway, Phoenix has a point. We need a plan,” Law said. “…I’m honestly open for suggestions. The intel we have on Kaido does not paint a good picture.”

 “So we can’t kill him, big deal. You can beat a guy without killing them!” Luffy said.

 “At which point Kaido will return to his crew and plot his revenge,” Law said. “This isn’t Doflamingo where the Marines can hold him. They’ve tried. Several times.”

 “We don’t necessarily know he’s unkillable, just that no method they have used has worked,” Robin pointed out. “I’m sure we have many ways to try for ourselves. We can extrapolate from what we know hasn’t worked to rule some out and go from there.”

 “I know the forty execution attempts tried,” Law said. “…This is going to take a lot of room to write out variables…I’ve heard he’s also taken torture like a champ, too…what a pain…”

 “It does sound medically interesting!” Chopper added. “But…I think there’s something easier.”

 “Really?” Marco asked.

 “Well, he can fight Red Haired Shanks on equal ground, right? Shanks can match him and Kaido sees Shanks as a potential threat,” Chopper said. “So…something your dad can do is in some way a weakness, Luffy!”

 “Pops could hurt him too…do you think its Conqueror’s Haki?” Marco asked.

 “Good point…we could ask Rayleigh, see what he thinks,” Ace said. “But Haki’s a good bet no matter what we do so we should keep training that.”

 “His army’s the problem, if you ask me,” Jinbe said. “Law is right, Kaido will go back to his crew once his is beaten…what if there is no crew to go back to? If we defeat them all?”

 “Depriving Kaido of his resources could be an interesting angle of attack…” Robin mused. “He’s dangerous on his own, of course, but without their backing he can’t control territory so easily, which then reduces his influence in the New World…”

 “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves: Kaido’s crew is strong too,” Vista said. “His three Calamities are called such for a reason. I’ve fought The Hurricane before and would not have lived if Marco hadn’t intervened…”

 “That was years ago, you’ve gotten stronger…of course, so has he, probably,” Marco said.

 “But he’s not impervious to damage like Kaido is, right?” Nami asked. “So there’s that.”

 Marco smirked, “Not impervious at all.”

 “That’s hot,” Ace commented.

 “Later,” Marco told him.

 “So you hurt him, how?” Vivi asked. “In case one of us fights him.”

 “Hurricane’s named Raul,” Marco said. “I’d put him at around Doflamingo’s height, but he’s got a thicker build. He carries a lance and a sickle, seastone blades. He has the Ancient Zoan of the Ankylosaur, which gives him serious armor on top of his Haki and a tail with a mace on it.”

 “But how’d you get him?” Luffy asked.

 “His front’s not as armored as his back, yoi,” Marco said. “He stays low because of it. I kicked him under the chin to make him stand up and kicked him in the gut as hard as I could. It knocked him onto his back and I was able to let Vista do the damage from there.”

 “So we just knock him over like a turtle?” Franky asked. “Sounds super!”

 “He’s not exactly slow so I’m not sure how apt the turtle comparison is,” Marco said.

 “Sheesh. If someone as fast as you is saying someone’s not slow then they’re pretty fast…” Luffy said. “Oh well! We’ve got really fast people too!”

 “Well, what was your plan for beating Kaido?” Nami asked Kin’emon. “You had a plan when you fled with Momonosuke, right?”

 “Well, less a plan for defeating Kaido and more one for protecting the prince,” Kin’emon said. “We hoped to meet with our allies the Mink Tribe. They live on a constantly moving island oon the back of a mighty elephant older than any nation on this planet.”

  “Oh, you mean Zou!” Luffy said. “Yeah, we never got to go. Shanks talked about it a lot but it just never happened.”

 “…Huh?” Kin’emon said.

 “Home sweet home to some of us,” Law said, smiling at Bepo.

 Bepo rubbed the back of his head, “It might be nice to visit…I would like to show you all around!”

 “You know about it?” Kanjuro asked.

 “Yeah. Shanks said it was really cool but we never went since it moves around and we just never ran into it,” Ace said. He frowned, “Now that I think about it I’m not sure the navigator could really chart a course to anything but supplies of alcohol and party hotspots…”

 “Duke Dogstorm and Lord Cat Viper both were very well acquainted with the Roger Pirates,” Kanjuro said. “Gol D. Roger spent some time there, studying something.”

 “Wonder what he was studying…Traffy if we have to study too, you do it. I might want to be Pirate King but studying is boring,” Luffy said, folding his arms. Law rolled his eyes.

 “It was an ancient Poneglyph,” Kin’emon said.

 “Oh, never mind then, Robin can study it!” Luffy said even as Robin’s eyes lit up.

 “In addition, the inhabitants of Zou are our allies,” Kin’emon said. “With a great debt owed to the Lords of Wano. If you are our allies, then I am sure we could get you access to the Poneglyph.”

 “I know where we’re going!” Luffy said brightly. “Come on, guys!”

 “Lu, it’s the middle of the night,” Sabo said.

 “…Come on in the morning, guys!” Luffy amended brightly, making Law, Sabo, and Ace perform the unusual action of laughing and groaning at the same time.

.o.o.o.

 “There’s a call from Fishman Island?” Jinbe asked.

 “From Shirahoshi,” Vivi said. “She had a message for us.”

 This somehow summoned all the other pirates who had been milling around the room, coming forward to hear why she had called.

 “There’s been this big brouhaha called of all the ruling families who can attend, Fishman Island included,” Nami said, holding out a list. “Princess Shirahoshi sent us word and says she’ll send us news once she’s there as well. But she got a list of all the royal families attending.”

 “Please let me see that,” Jinbe said, taking it. “Vivi’s father, Shirahoshi, Rebecca and Violet…hmm.”

 “Someone else we know?” Luffy asked.

 “There’s a king listed for Dawn Island. I didn’t know Dawn Island had a king,” Jinbe said. “You and your brothers certainly never mentioned one.”

 “It didn’t,” Ace said. “Bit of the island had Goa Kingdom but that was just a bunch of crappy nobles vying for power, right Sabo?”

 “I think I’d have remembered a king,” Sabo agreed. “Not something you’d forget…short of amnesia…”

 “Yeah well right here is says King Stelly of the Goa Kingdom on Dawn Island is attending, so they’ve got one now,” Jinbe said.

 Sabo froze, “King…who?”

 “Stelly. What a name,” Law said, smirking as he peered at the list.

 “Okay for the millionth time, you’re a _pirate named Law_ ,” Ace pointed out, poking Law in the chest. Law slapped his hand away in exasperation.

 “Sabo?” Luffy asked, cocking his head. “You know Stelly?”

 “Yes. I know Stelly,” Sabo said. “ _Stelly_ was adopted by the Esper family. But the Esper family _weren’t kings_.”

 “Wait, wait, Esper?” Usopp asked. “Wasn’t that the family mansion we messed up? And didn’t we mess it up because…oh shit. Stelly was adopted by…”

 “My biological family,” Sabo growled. “So they’d have a son who wasn’t a disappointment.”

 “…Okay but they definitely weren’t kings, like you said, so why’s he a king?” Luffy asked.

 “One would assume he married a queen,” Nami said.

 “Oh yeah, he could have done that…but Goa didn’t have a queen either, did it?” Luffy asked.

 “Come on, guys, I wasn’t even twelve when we left!” Sabo said. “As far as _I_ recall, no. No queen. There might have been one made later, people do that! At least they might, nobles are weird; why do you think I _left_?”

 “Sabo, breathe,” Koala said, patting him on the shoulder. She looked at Nami, “So what is this Reverie for, anyway?”

 “Oh, right,” Nami said. “It’s about the Warlords. After we kicked Doflamingo’s ass and managed to get word out, a lot of nobles started questioning the system and Judge was the last straw. I mean, them and Crocodile together is three title-abusers too many.”

 “Plus all the collateral damage Weevil caused and Jinbe leaving to team up with Luffy,” Koala added.

 “And Hancock, Mihawk, and Buggy all being connected to us or Shanks, albeit they can’t prove much with Hancock,” Law added. “…Wow. That means we’ve had pretty significant contact with every current Warlord but Kuma. Who we still fought for a couple minutes…”

 “I know Kuma,” Koala said.

 Luffy laughed, his grin wide and proud, “Shishishi, who knew we had such great connections?”

 “It is pretty amazing,” Ace agreed. “So what do you think they’ll do?”

 “Rework the system somehow?” Nami asked, shrugging. “More oversight? That could be bad for Hancock, and possibly Mihawk and Buggy depending on how helpful they want to be to us.”

 “What if they disband it?” Ace asked. “I know a lot of Marines hate the system.”

 “Cora-san and Kuzan despised it,” Law agreed. “A lot of Marines see it as an attempt at putting a criminal on a leash, only without a leash. They’ve always seen Warlords as loose cannons.”

 “But it took three kingdom takeovers for nobles to notice. Two of which were the _same_ kingdom,” Sabo said. He folded his arms and snorted, “Typical.”

 “Surprised they cared about Dressrosa at all. New World is usually seen as ‘fuck it, you’re on your own’ by the rest of the world, particularly the Blues,” Nami said. “Especially given the Pirates still outclass the Marines in general over here.”

 “Which could be a problem if we take down Kaido. Would make one hell of a power vacuum,” Law said. “Dressrosa made it out all right because the neighboring islands pitched in and they’ve got strong people like Kairos, Rebecca, and the king. They’ll also be training more in case someone else like Doflamingo shows their face and I’m pretty sure Fujitora would show up to defend them out of a sense of honor. But Kaido’s got a lot more territory than just one island.”

 “Like what’s been going on in North Blue,” Nami said. “With the collapse of the Vinsmoke regime, all their land, money, and power has been up for grabs.”

 “I’ve seen at least three wars in the papers,” Koala said. “And Hack called to tell me Big Mom snatched up a lot of their mercenaries.”

 “We need to keep Reiju safe; she’ll be one hell of a target,” Nami said. “Any of those North Blue factions could use her to legitimize themselves.”

 “Back to Kaido…I’m liking the plan of just taking out his crew and reducing his territory even more now,” Law mused. “He’s already been bolstering his crew by absorbing others, who knows how easy it might be to turn some of them against him?”

 “We’ll look into that, then,” Nami said.

.o.o.o.

 They’d packed up and said their goodbyes in the morning. Marco and his crew would wait until they reached Zou and took the plan further, before they’d meet up to move on Wano if necessary. Meanwhile the Straw Hats and Hearts set sail with the samurai for Zou.

 After weeks of sailing forward, trusting Bepo’s Mink instincts which could guide him home, Luffy heard something in the middle of the night.

_Hello?_

 Luffy blinked awake. “Huh?”

 His cabin was almost pitch black, the porthole not providing much light. Law was curled against him, face buried in Luffy’s neck so his goatee scratched at the top of Luffy’s ribcage. Well, at least he’d finally come to bed. Luffy didn’t have to drag him…of course, maybe Robin had dragged him and Luffy hadn’t woken up for it…

 Luffy shook his head. He could have sworn he’d heard something. He wiggled a bit so he could sit up without waking Law. He looked around the room. Nothing seemed to be out of place, and he didn't sense anyone who shouldn’t be here…

  _Hello_?

 There it was again. He shook Law’s shoulder, “Traffy!”

 Law growled, “ _It’s not morning_.”

 “Yeah, but wake up anyway!”

 Law huffed as he sat up before glaring when Luffy couldn’t help but laugh at how his hair stuck up, “This had better be good, or you’re going to sleep in the freezer.”

 “Shishishi, then I’d just have meat!” Luffy said. “But seriously, I heard something.”

 “Oh,” Law said. “…What?”

 “I think it was someone saying hello or something. It was weird,” Luffy said. “Surprised you didn’t wake up for it, you must have been tired!”

 “Yeah; yeah I’m tired,” Law groaned, stretching.

  _Hello_?

 “See, there it is again!” Luffy said.

 “I didn’t hear anything,” Law said.

 “What?” Luffy asked.

 “I didn’t hear anything,” Law repeated.

.o.o.o.

 “Ace! Ace!”

 “I’m up, I’m up!” Ace said, almost falling out of bed. “Huh, Momo? What’s wrong?”

 “There’s a ghost!” Momonosuke said. “You never said this sub-ship was haunted!”

 “It’s…not?” Ace offered. “What’s going on?”

 “There’s something talking to me! It keeps going ‘hello’ over and over and it’s creeping me out!” Momonosuke said.

 “Okay, let me make sure I got this,” Ace yawned. “You did not dream this?”

 “No; already pinched myself a lot too.”

 “But you don’t see anything?”

 “Nuh-uh.”

 Ace nodded, tapping his chin. He tried to think of what that could be, then…

 “It did it again! _Ace_ , make it stop!” Momonosuke begged.

 “Okay, okay,” Ace said, closing his eyes and focusing. He didn’t sense anything on the ship that shouldn’t be there…but he didn’t want to call Momo a liar because the poor kid was clearly freaking out. “Let’s go look around, all right? Jean Bart’s on watch, we’ll ask him if he’s seen anything.”

 “Thanks,” Momonosuke muttered, wiping his nose on his sleeve.

.o.o.o.

 “I’m telling you it’s the same thing!” Luffy said. “Hey why’d you make a Room? Did you just Scan me?”

 “Just checking,” Law said. “Look, Robin’s on watch with Jean Bart, we’ll see if she’s seen anything—whoa!”

 As soon as his feet hit the floor the ship lurched a little.

 “Those are some serious waves!” Luffy said.

 “Yes, I see them,” Law said. “Robin!”

 “I’m already waking Franky,” she called down from the crow’s nest.

 “Good job!” Luffy called. “Traffy, do you know what’s going on?”

 “No but we need both the helmsmen at their posts right now,” Law said. “Robin! Can you wake up Shachi too?”

  _Hello?_

 “There! Again!” Luffy said. “I heard it again!”

 “I’m sorry, Luffy, I don’t hear anything!” Law said. “Wait, what?”

  For a minute Luffy hoped that finally Law had heard it too, but Law was looking down at the sub’s deck. Momonosuke darted across it, looking around, with a sleepy Ace at his heels.

 Luffy leaned over the rail, “Ace! What’s going on?”

 “Momo’s hearing shit!” Ace called. “…Wait, why are you up?”

 “Room. Shambles.”

 Luffy blinked as Ace and Momonosuke appeared in front of them. “Oh. Thanks Traffy. This is better than yelling. Anyway, is it saying hello?”

 “Yeah!” Momonosuke said.

 “Luffy hears it too?” Ace asked, wide-eyed, as Franky rushed out from below deck to grab the wheel.

 “Yes, and I don’t,” Law said.

 “Me neither!” Ace said. “So it’s just something calling hello? Maybe it’s a siren!”

 “A siren targeting only a prepubescent child and a sex-repulsed teenager?” Law asked, cocking his head very slowly as he spoke. 

 “Maybe it’s an asexual siren,” Ace said, folding his arms defensively. “We’re in the New World, would it surprise you?”

 “But sirens, like, _promise_ you stuff,” Luffy said. “It’s just going ‘hello’ now and then.”

 “If it’s connected to the rough waters we’ll need to come up with something,” Law said. “Ace-ya how far out can you control hovering fireballs?”

 “Pretty far,” Ace said.

 “Then get us some light, see what we’re dealing with,” Law said.

 Ace spread his arms out and released larger versions of his Firefly Lights from his fingers. The green flames cast the ships in an eerie glow as the spread out and multiplied. “Luffy, Momo, where’s it coming from?”

  _Hello?_

 “That way!” Luffy and Momonosuke said, pointing. Ace directed more of the fireballs in that direction, the heat eating through the midnight fog. Luffy and Law peered out into the darkness, seeing nothing but more choppy waves.

 “We’re getting close to my limit here,” Ace said. “They’re already over a mile out.”

 “So it’s not close enough for immediate danger, good…” Law mused. “Unless it’s very large and travelling very fast…but then it probably would have hit us already…”

 “We could get the weather lady to get rid of the clouds?” Momonosuke suggested.

 “Yeah, we could wake up Nami…I guess,” Luffy said, cringing.

 “I’ll try; maybe I can use Vivi as a shield,” Law said, making a Room. “We—ah!”

 “AAAHHH!” Momonosuke screamed. “Robin’s head!”

 “Sorry, Momonosuke, I assure you I’m fine,” the head growing out of the ship’s mast assured them. “Though I’m surprised I managed to spook you, Law.”

 “I’m working off maybe three hours of sleep,” Law said.

 Luffy folded his arms, gave Law a look, and tapped his foot. Law sighed, “Yes, Luffy-ya, I should have gone to bed sooner. In my defense I expected to not be woken up until you bolted out of bed for breakfast.”

 “Franky said the waves are getting stronger, and Shachi is engaging the sub’s extra stabilization mechanics,” Robin said. “Do you know what’s going on?”

  _Hello?_

 “There it is again!” Luffy huffed. “Something weird is calling at me and Momonosuke but we don’t know what since we can’t see and Ace tried lighting things up but it might be too far away so we want to get Nami to get rid of the clouds so we can see so we know what to do!”

 “Something is…calling for you?” Robin asked. “That could be any number of things…what is it saying?”

 “Hello,” Momonosuke said. “But, it’s saying it as a question.”

 “As if to say ‘hello, is anyone there?’” Robin asked.

 “Yeah, like that and your magic is such creepy magic!” Momonosuke added.

 “Yes, but it allows me to hold many conversations at once,” Robin said. “…Shachi says the radar on the sub is picking up something but the signal is strange…”

 “WAIT!”

 Everyone looked down at the sub to see Kanjuro and Bepo.

 “Everyone wait! I know what this is!” Bepo yelled. “It’s fine!”

 “What do you mean you know what this is?” Ace demanded.

 Bepo shrunk back, tapping his paws together, “Um. I’m sorry. But. Um.”

 “Stop scaring Bepo!” Law snapped at Ace as Momonosuke yelled, “Don’t scare the bear, Ace!”

 Ace stared between them blankly. “It was just a question.”

 “Your tone was quite harsh,” Robin scolded as Law warped Bepo and Kanjuro over to them as well.

 “Bepo. Please. Continue,” Law said.

 “Yeah, Ace didn’t mean it. He’s jut cranky,” Luffy said.

 “So is it some kind of monster?” Momonosuke asked.

 “Oh, no, no!” Bepo said, waving his paws. “I remember this from when I was little! Water like this means Zunisha’s nearby!”

 The clouds finally blew away, casting a wide shaft of moonlight on the sea. The crew gaped in shock as they saw the thick gray legs wandering through the sea, leading to a massive body.

 “It’s…huge…” Luffy said. “Well it had to be huge, there’s an island on it, but…wow!”

 “That’s what’s been churning the waves,” Ace said. “Displacing water when she walks.”

 “That’s what I was telling you,” Bepo said, poking his paws together. “Zunisha’s big, there’s always rough water around her.”

 “But then why are Luffy and Momo hearing something asking hello?” Ace asked.

 “Probably Zunisha,” Bepo said. “I mean if you were a big animal walking around in the dark and didn’t want to hurt anyone, what would you do?”

 “…The giant elephant was playing Marco Polo?” Luffy asked, awed. “So cool.”

 “But _only_ Luffy-ya and Momonosuke could hear her,” Law said.

 “Of course,” Kanjuro said. “The ability to hear the voice of Zunisha is very rare. Other than the lords of Wano, I know only the late Pirate King was able to do it!”

 “Hey, yeah, didn’t Rayleigh say Roger could ‘hear the voices in all things’?” Ace asked.

 “He did,” Robin confirmed. “It looks as though Luffy and Momonosuke have the ability as well.”

 “Huh,” Law said. “…Well, mystery solved. Call me in the morning. I’m going back to bed.”

 “Oh come on, Traffy, this is cool!” Luffy said.

 “It’s the middle of the night. Like hell I’m climbing a giant elephant right now,” Law said.

 “He’s got a point,” Robin said. “Everyone is either tired or sleeping. It may be best to try and back away from the rough waters and catch up to Zunisha in the morning.”

 “She’s following a pretty straight course, so we should keep up easily,” Bepo said, nodding. “And of course Momonosuke and Luffy can hear her!”

 “All right,” Luffy said. “I guess climbing a big elephant before breakfast doesn’t make any sense anyway…”

 “…You will not wake Sanji up to give you breakfast,” Robin said.

 “Fine,” Luffy sighed. “Zoro’d get grumpy anyway…”

 “Come on, short stuff, back to bed,” Ace said, heading for the sub doors with Momonosuke. “Is Kin’emon up too, Kanjuro?”

 “Yes. He is very seasick,” Kanjuro said before Law teleported him, Ace Momonosuke, and Bepo back to the sub.

 “Come on Traffy, got to get to bed!” Luffy said. “We need to be nice and rested to climb the giant elephant, shishishi!”

 “…I could probably teleport everyone up there in one go,” Law said.

 “Traffy. It’s a _giant elephant_. We’re going to climb it!” Luffy said.

 Law sighed, “Of course we are, Luffy-ya. Of course we are.”

**Author's Note:**

> So we get character development from Zoro, some planning to fight Kaido, and the trip to Zunisha! Next time: party on the elephant with the Barto Club joining the comedic fun in The Usefulness of Fans!


End file.
